I want to talk to you tonight, the last Sunday service of 2024. 2025 is coming up this week. Wednesday is the new year. Right in the middle of the week. Amen. We're going to have service at 7 o'clock on Tuesday evening. I hope Shana will be here then and she could sing a song, maybe that same one, maybe another one, maybe two. Proverbs 29, let me know when you're there, please. Proverbs 29, verse 18, are you all there? It says, where there's no vision, the people perish. But he that keepeth the law happy is he. Where there's no vision, I want to talk to you briefly tonight about seeing, about a vision. And a vision is something that you get to see spiritually, something you see spiritually. A vision is a spiritual picture, or a spiritual happening, or a spiritual like video in your head. A spiritual meaning, but it is definitely spiritual. And I want to ask you something. How's your vision on a couple things tonight? One of them is the very first thing is, how do you see your vision? How do you see God? I want you to think of how is your vision of God? Because a lot of people make God in their own image. And God in their own image, in their own likeness, instead of us being created in his. But we think of God as certain people. I know certain people say, oh, the man upstairs, and they don't know him if you just talk to God like that. And I just wanna briefly, I don't expect you to turn every page, because I don't wanna stay all night, but in Isaiah six, chapter six, Isaiah six, verse one, it tells us how Isaiah saw God. and the vision that Isaiah had. And it says, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up. And his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims. Each one had six wings. With Twain, he covered their face. And with Twain, he covered his feet. And with Twain, he did fly. And one cried to another and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved that the voice of him that cried in the house was filled with smoke. Then I said, woe is me, for I'm undone, because I'm a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. That was a vision of Jesus Christ on his throne. And I want you to think about what is your vision of God? More importantly, what is your vision of Jesus? So many people, the way they see Jesus is like a hippie with long hair and a robe and saying, peace, man, like everything's cool, man. That is not Jesus Christ. I don't know where you get that vision from, but the Bible tells us what Jesus really is like. The Bible tells us what God is really like. Unless you're getting your vision from the word of God, your visions are probably messed up. How you see God, how you envision Jesus Christ is so important for the rest of your life. Hebrews 12, 29, you don't have to turn there, but it says, for our God is an all-consuming fire. And there's other verses in Deuteronomy. It says, for our God is an all-consuming fire. It says he is a jealous God. That is our God. That's who he says he is. But his plan or his vision And our vision don't seem to match up most of the time. So I want to ask you, without the vision that people perish, I want to ask you, how do you see God? What's your vision of God? How do you see God? And another vision is, how do you see yourself? You know, Isaiah saw God, and he saw God high and lifted up, and him as, woe is me. So many people think that they're going to stand before God and, hey, buddy, Hey, hey pops, hey daddy. I hear that and it makes me cringe inside. That just shows me they don't know him. Because the truth of the matter is when you stand in his presence, you won't be able to say anything. You won't be able to say a word about how big, how powerful, how awesome God is. He's beyond our comprehension. and when you get to know them. But I want to think about how you see yourself, a vision of God, a vision of Christ, and a vision of yourself. So many people think themselves to be something. You know what I mean? It says over in 1 Corinthians 13, verse 12, in 1 Corinthians 13, 12, and then I'm going to go to 2 Corinthians 3. But in 1 Corinthians 13 verse 12, it says this, for now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know even also, I'm sorry, even as also I am known. You see, What we think we are and how we think we are is one thing, but how God knows we are. And right now we see ourselves through a glass dark. We see ourselves sometimes we, and I say sometimes, and I know I'm talking, I'll be honest with you, like my wife said, talking to people that love the Lord, talking to people that know God. And here, but if we were talking to a bigger group and it was more people, they would see themselves, I'm all right with God, God and me are okay. I just want you to think, how do you really, what's the vision of yourself? If in 2 Corinthians chapter three, in 2 Corinthians chapter three, it says this in verse 18. It says, but we all, with open face, beholding as in a glass. That's like the mirror. The glory of the Lord, look at it says, we are changed under that same image from glory to glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord. Now I want you to think about what he just said, but we all with an open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image. I look at myself and I see I need a lot of changing. I see myself as not even close to arriving, not even being halfway there. I see myself better than I was and farther than I was, but I don't see myself anywhere near where I want to be. As Heather said, as Heather said, I want to grow closer to God. I want to closer walk with God. And this is a fact, the closer you get to God, the bigger God gets and the smaller you get. But the farther away you get from God, the bigger you get and the smaller God gets. I'm here to tell you, your vision of yourself means a lot. Because that's how you're gonna act. It's how you're gonna represent yourself. It's even how you're gonna pray. Prayer is one of the most important things you could ever do in your life. And some people come and they approach the throne of God, and they hear that verse saying, come boldly before the throne. And they're like, okay, I'm coming boldly. But you know what, you can't approach the throne until you have your sins forgiven. That's why no one can come to God except through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is our high priest. So we want to talk to God filthy and filthy rags. We want to talk to God saying, no, no, you got to go to the priest first. And you got to go and confess all your sins and get them washed away. And then God, your father, will accept you. As a king, when a king, when you're in a kingdom and the king would have people come in, he wouldn't let certain people in. They had to, they had to be clean. They had to make sure they're washed. They had to make sure they had to write apparels on, because they're coming in the presence of God. Now, how do you see yourself is very important. James 1, James chapter 1, this is a great verse. James chapter 1, let me know when you're there. James 1, look with me in verse 23. Well, I guess we should read verse 22 first. It says, but be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. It says, for if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer, listen to what he says. He's like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass, a mirror. He sees what he looks like. He sees who he is. Look what it says. For he beholdeth himself and goes his way and straightway forgets what manner of man he was. I'll tell you right now, I know who I am. I'm unworthy. I know who I am. I don't deserve to be in the presence of God. I know who I am. I am a worm. I am a wretch. I know all that. I don't ever think myself anything else but. And if only by the grace of God, only by his amazing mercy and grace, am I not consumed. Only by the mercies of God am I even able to speak, am I able to see. Only by His amazing, amazing grace would He allow me, of all people, to get up here and speak on His behalf. Wow. I know what I am. I don't forget who I am, but so many people do. They forget who they are. They get saved and they get cleaned up, and they stop drinking, they stop smoking, they stop cursing, they stop gambling, and they think they're something. You know what I mean? And they forget that only by God's grace are you not that person you used to be. The vision of how you see yourself. But then there's another vision, how you see others. You know, there's one vision how you see God, and there's another vision how you see yourself, but there's a vision how you see others. And the truth of the matter is, is we all look at others and we tend to look down on them. We think we're better than they are. You know what I mean? Because we're not doing the things they're doing. So we, we don't say it, but in all reality, the spiritual vision that we have is how we look at others. And the truth of the matter is, is Jesus tells us over and over again to love one another, to never look down on anyone. The only time you should ever look down on them is to get down on their level and help them up. And that's the only time our vision for others, how you see them is so very important. Just remember who you are. Remember where you came from. Can I get an amen to that? Remember what you deserve. Remember where you deserve. Remember who it is that saved you. Remember how he saved you. He didn't just say, you know what, I love you, you're a nice guy, you're forgiven. No, he came down, he left the throne of heaven and came into a womb of a virgin and was born an actual baby in a stable, in a manger. And he had to live the poor life of not having anything. And he came to this earth for a reason, to be a human being and to suffer, to bleed, to die a horrible death on your behalf. That's the only way you can be saved is through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. So think about that. But think about others. I want you to know something, that God loves you, right? But he also loves others. Those people that you hate, he loves them. Those people that you don't agree with, he died for them. So how we look at others is very important because all these things matter. Our vision, how we see God, what is Jesus like to you? What, how do you see yourself? How do you see yourself and compared to others? It's very, very important. And for the fourth one, I want to think about this. How do you envision when you meet him? What's your vision? Without a vision, people perish. So what's your vision of when I'm going, how many, we sing the song, you know, when we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be. When we all see Jesus, we'll sing and shout the victory, the victory. Well, truth, are you looking forward to that day of seeing him face to face? Are you, do you ever have a vision about what it's gonna be like? I want you to have a vision, because without a vision, people perish. I want you to think, what is that day for you going to be like? We do know that he said, in that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, haven't I, haven't I, haven't I? And he'll say, I never knew you. I don't want that to happen to anyone. That's the scariest verse in all the Bible for me. But he also said that in that day, he's going to say, well done. thou good and faithful servant. You can't be good unless you serve. You can't be a servant unless you're faithful. So good and faithful servant. Think of these things because if you're not a good and faithful servant, what is he gonna say? Let's look at a couple of things he's gonna say. Look in Romans chapter 14. Or let's think about that vision at least. I want you to have a vision about it, because I know that visions will motivate you. I had a vision once. I was doing the dishes in a house, and I thought I was saved. I thought I was, a little bit, if that makes sense. But I didn't have a church, I didn't have a Bible, I didn't know anything. And I was sitting there doing the dishes, and all of a sudden, like that, I was on the sides of hell, on the pit of hell. I was standing on a smooth, flat surface on the side of a pit that went so far down you couldn't see. It was all rock. It was just carved out like this, but way smaller, like this circle here, but way, way smaller. And all of a sudden, I just opened my eyes, and I'm like, there I was. And it was a vision, very clear. When you have a vision, you never forget it. When you have a dream, you forget dreams. When you have a vision, you can't forget it. And so I'm in this little spot, and it was dark and scary, and it was empty, and it was not a good place. And all of a sudden, that ceiling over me started to come in and shrink and shrink on me, and it would squish me, completely squished. And then, like that, I'd pop back up, and I'd be at the same spot again. And it would come down and squish me. And then all of a sudden, the vision was over, and I was back doing dishes. I was like, And to me, it was God showing me where I was gonna be if I died right then. I wasn't going into the lowest hell, but I was on the sides of the pit, like David said. I was on the sides because there's levels in hell. There's different levels in hell. And some people go into the lowest hell, and some people are on the sides of the pit, but either way, you're still in hell. And that scared me. And it was soon after that is when I really got right with God and got saved and joined a church, got baptized, started doing what God said. Don't be a hearer of the word, be a doer of the word. Because a hearer of a word kind of forget, you forget, you think you're okay. And I'll tell you right now, I don't want to ever think I'm OK and then get before him and realize I'm not OK. Amen. Because once you realize if you die and you wake up in hell, it's not OK and it's never going to be OK and you never have a chance to make it OK. And once you die and you go to heaven, and you stay before the Lord, and it's not gonna be okay for everybody. It tells us in 1 Corinthians 3, it says that all of us will be tried by fire of what sort of everything we've ever done for Christ. And everything that will remain is only by gold, silver, precious stones. That means the things you did for God that were pure and right. And everything else is gonna be burn up, wood, hay, and stubble. And there's so many people that their lives are built on wood and hay and stubble, and they think when they get there that God's gonna say, well done, and it's gonna be all burnt up. And it says, you shall suffer loss. You don't wanna stand before the Lord and regret everything you didn't do on this earth. And so you need some motivation sometimes. You know, we need, I needed to be dangled over hell for a second. Boy, did that motivate me. I wish that God would motivate everyone I know like that and just show us what hell would be like for three seconds. One, two, three, would change your life forever. It would change your vision of God. It would change your vision of yourself. It would change your vision of others. And it would change your vision of when you meet God. Because look what it says in Romans 14, verse 10. It says, but why does thou judge thy brother? Or why does thou set it not, thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Why do we look differently down on some person and we think that person, this, that person, when God's saying, you know the old saying, when you're pointing at somebody, three fingers are pointing back at you. Why can't it just be all about judging ourselves, about me? You don't have to worry about me. You don't have to worry about your neighbor. You don't have to worry about your sister, brother. You're gonna worry about you. because they're not gonna stand with you before the Lord. They're not gonna be the ones there for you. It's just you and God. And look what it says if you turn with me, please, to 2 Corinthians 5. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 10. Are you there? It says, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Now, before I finish, I want to say, I asked you your vision of when you meet Jesus. What's it going to be like? What a day of rejoicing that will be. It's going to be so great. We need to take a good look at what our vision is really going to be like. For some people, it's going to be great. It's going to be amazing. Well done. That good and faithful. faithful servant. What was that? Okay. Okay. You know what they say? Gremlins are in there. The prince of the power of the air doesn't like doesn't like this. Me telling you all this. See some people, some people, it's going to be an amazing day when you stand before the Lord. You know why? Because you walked with him every day. You talked with him every day. He was before the Lord was ever before me. The Lord was at my right hand. When I took a left turn, the Lord was there. When I took a right turn, the Lord was there. When I laid myself down, the Lord was there. When I woke up, the Lord was there. The praise of the Lord was on my lips continually. The worship of God, that I worship the Lord in his holy temple, in his holy hill, that I worship the Lord thy God, because he is worthy to be worshiped. Did I serve the Lord? Did I go out and give the gospel, the good news to as many people as I could? What have I done to serve God? All these things will come into being, but look what he says, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Just so you know, you're gonna stand there. That everyone may receive the things done in his body, according that he has done, whether it be good or bad. And look at the next verse, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade people, we persuade men. That's what I'm trying to do, is how's your vision? How's your vision of God? He's an all-consuming fire. I couldn't give you verses after verses, and I just wanted to shorten it for Sunday evening. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. Look what he says. But we are made manifest, revealed unto God, and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. I hope and pray that you know that what I'm telling you, I mean it from my heart because I'm talking to myself and all of us. I never preach at you as much that I can think of because I'm always preaching towards myself. I need God. I need to do better. I need to grow. I need to walk with God. I need to worship him. I need to praise him. I need to lift up my hands. I need to, I need to. And all I want you to do is you to know the Lord in such a way that not only do you wake up with Him and go to bed with Him, but when you close your eyes in death, you're gonna wake up in His arms and He's gonna say, welcome home. Because you've been with Him the whole time like Enoch was. Enoch walked so close to God, God just said, you might as well come with me. And that's a wonderful thing to know that you don't have to worry about the terror of the Lord if you're just doing what you love the Lord from all your heart. I want you to think about our vision for meeting Jesus. The last thing I want you to see is turn to Psalm 119 and I'll be finished for you. You know Psalm 119 is the longest Psalm, you know that, right? Do you know how many verses are in it? 176. He said, look at that. Let's see if Joe's right. 176 verses. Isn't that crazy? That's the longest chapter in the whole Bible. It's 176 verses. Guess how many of them do not talk about the Word of God? Four. Every single verse out of 176 talks about God's Word. Four out of it do not. And what I want you to realize is how important it is, because everything we just said, your vision of God, your vision of yourself, your vision of others, your vision for, how about our church? We should have a vision in 2025 for our church. I want to have a vision. Where there's no vision, the people perish. And I want to have a vision, and I want to reach more people. I, because all of us sitting here, we're all friends and we're family and I love the praises about that and it's true, amen. But I want more friends and family. There's more people out there just like us. There's more Joes and Tonys and Larrys and Joes that we need to meet. There's more Ravens and more Lindas and Jeans and Anita's out there. There's more Heathers out there and we got two right back there. My point is I have a vision and I need your help to have it done. The Bible says a man can't do much by himself, but with two people he can do twice as much, and with three, a three-fold cord's hard to break. If we can just get three partners, three people partnering to go out soul winning this year, to go out door knocking, to go out hanging gospel tracts out, to go out putting door, to do something, to make sure that wherever you go, you have gospel tracks with you, to hand out just to someone. Joe, I met Joe at the bank line. I met Tony across the street, across from John's Deli. I met Larry in prison. Sorry, Larry. Sorry, I met Steve in prison. You know, I met Joe. in our driveway on a motorcycle. It's like, what's that? I know he did. Steve was like, come on in. You look like a knucklehead like us. Come on in. The thing, what I'm saying is, is every, I'll give you this little thing. You ready? Each one, reach one. I have a vision that each of us reaching someone. You know why? Not only will I have a vision for our church to grow that way, but for you to grow that way. Because if you will reach someone with the gospel, and lead them to the Lord, and you see them come in and get baptized, and in church with you, man, you're gonna be lit up. You are gonna be so, have so much joy, so much. And God never says that you have to go out and win souls. He says you're wise if you win souls. But we did say you're supposed to go out and plant seed, or water what was already planted. But it's God gives the increase. You can't plant seed if you won't go out and spread the seed. And you can't water if you won't go out and be the water. Amen? Look what he says in Psalm 119. And look in verse 18 with me. It says, open thou my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. We sing that song, Amazing Grace. I was blind, but what? Well, how's your vision of God? I should have spent more time on that. But Isaiah had a vision of God. He was high and lifted up. He was so holy in heaven that the seraphims couldn't even look at him. Think about that. The seraphims, the most powerful beings ever, and they have six wings. And with two, they covered their feet. With two, they covered their eyes. And they just cried one to another, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. Now, everybody's different. Bible says there's two ways of winning souls. One is pulling them out of the fire, and the other one is loving on them to Jesus. I don't care which one you need, I am the kind of fire guy. I'm the fire guy. Once a fire starts hitting me, I'm like, I'm ready to move. But sometimes I need a fire lit under me. And some people are like the other people, the fire doesn't work, they need to be coddled and loved and told, you know, and just edified and strengthened. I don't know which one you are, but whatever you need, it's probably what you're gonna, or wherever you needed, is probably gonna do what God wants you to do for someone else. And that's why we have people with gifts of mercy. I don't have that gift. I think everyone should be smacked upside their heads. I'm just saying. Spiritually speaking, of course. Spiritual smack. Some use a real smack. But when I was a teenager growing up, they had paddles in high school. And the shop teachers were men, and they would paddle you. And I needed that. Today, women, some men, but women have a gift. A smile, a kind word, a smile and hand a gospel tract. If Kira came up to anyone on earth and said, here, I have this for you. I don't think there's a person on earth that wouldn't just take it. I come up. Hey, get away from me. You know what I mean? Like I'm done, but I want you to look with this. We're going to read it out loud and then we're going to pray and finish verse 18. All of us. I want this to be a prayer. I want this to be a prayer for us tonight and for the rest of the year. Okay. Can we do that? Are you all there? Psalm 119 verse 18, you all there? All right, out loud, everybody, ready? Open down mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. Jesus came and he gave sight to the blind, didn't he? I want to see. I want to see things in this book that I've never seen before. But I want to see things about God that I've never seen before. I want to see how Jesus really is. Not how The Chosen and the movies talk about him. I want to know what Jesus is really like. Not what I think he's like, but what's he really like? When he preached and when he talked, you know what they said? Never a man spoke like this man. He speaks as one having authority, not as the scribes and the Pharisees speak. The soldiers sent to get him couldn't even get near him because of how powerful his words were and how loud and authoritative he spoke. He wasn't like, oh, blessed be the name of the Lord. He wasn't. He was the strongest, most powerful, awesome man that's ever walked the face of the earth. Was he kind? Absolutely. Was he gentle? Yes. But his words were powerful. I'm done. I don't want to keep you here any longer. Open down my eyes, Lord, that I may behold wondrous things. Amen. Amen. Brother Joe, Big Joe, could you close us in prayer, please?